We all the basic story by now. Bad guy goes into a church and shoots the place up. "Church" could be school...or department store...or Christmas party. This one didn't end up as a mass killing, but not for the reasons the media (including the gun media) is saying. Let's discuss, shall we.

The bad guy - Emanuel Kidega Samson. Samson is a Black Power advocate and very anti-police according to his personal Facebook page. Although his theological position is not known, he shared a number of pro-Islamic posts, including a video in which a Muslim activist defends Sharia law. Samson frequently shared anti-west posts. If you look at him being escorted here, and in the other images of him online, he is a powerfully built man and an avid weight lifter.

Police say in addition to the two pistols Samson bought into the church, they recovered another pistol and a rifle from his vehicle. Police say Samson fatally shot a woman who was walking to her vehicle and then entered the rear of the church and shot six others.

A churchgoer who confronted the gunman was pistol-whipped by the suspect, who then shot himself. So what do we know?

We live in a time of war. We have now for some sixteen years. That the battles do not occur daily must not blunt America's sharpness. And the reality of the 'defensive" nature of this war must not for one instant lull us into thinking that any place is safe. And damn the signs. No place being safe, every place our feet touch must have us armed in case that day, that moment, and that place is the site of the next battle.

What I think Happened: Now to what I suspect happened, based on my own real world experience and my understanding of human nature. Samson enters the church and begins shooting. There are a few seconds of confusion as those inside are shocked and they try to make sense of what is happening. Samson has chaos on his hands as multiple people scramble for safety. Here is where the usher, whom we will discuss shortly, has an opportunity to intervene. And for that action, we certainly give him a deserved thumbs up...it almost makes up for his foolishness of having to go get his pistol from his car.

You Can't Ignore Nature: Look at the images of Samson, and the images of Engle. Unless Engle has been lifting heavy since the pictures or has been training in hard full contact karate, I don't see him overpowering Samson. I suspect that Samson was taken by surprise and because of that shot himself accidentally. That allowed Engle to go get his pistol. But lets look at the real situation here. Why in God's name was Engle not armed inside the church? Had he been armed inside the church he may well have been able to kill Samson as soon as he fired his first shots inside the church. Moreover, the "pistol whip" injury incurred by Engle may very well have been incapacitating, thus nullifying the "go get the gun" thing at the outset and continuing to facilitate Samson's killing spree.

Learning Point 1: I am sure we will learn more in the coming days. Samson was either a crazy guy (which is more convenient for the left-stream media), or an actual black power/islamic terror sympathizer. We will know more. At the moment he was carrying out his attack, his motivations didn't matter. But they matter now.

Learning Point 2: I suspect Samson was very new to firearms and his lack of skill contributed to his failure. One cannot count on the ineptness of his adversary as a pre-planned advantage.

Learning Point 3: Carry your weapon every single place you go. Learn to conceal it so nobody knows you have it. And have it always so you can shoot the bad guy in the face and kill him instead of having to wrestle with him and then run to go get your gun out of your car.
]]>GABE SUAREZ BLOG ARTICLESGabriel Suarezhttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136913-THE-(COMBAT)-LESSONS-OF-ANTIOCHTHE FEAR OF KILLINGhttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136911-THE-FEAR-OF-KILLING&goto=newpost
Sun, 24 Sep 2017 18:12:26 GMTTHE FEAR OF KILLING

So in a nutshell, Scott “Scout” Schultz, 21, was confronted by officers while brandishing a knife on campus. He was ordered a number of times to drop the knife by officers. We can see in the video how the 'stand-off" developed and the exchange. I suspect the exchange was not about Scout Scott's sexual ambiguity, nor about the evils of the trump administration, but rather went something like ...

Now I will tell you something and I really don't care if some liberal snowflake that will never spend a dime with me is upset. When you face an adversary...whether you are the police or Joe Citizen, the most important person in that event is you, not the suspect. No man in his right mind is going to put his life second to that of the adversary. To do so is stupid and to ask a man tasked with keeping others safe to do so is not only immoral, but insane.

And now, as if on cue, the internet experts are suggesting that officers (and by inevitable extension all of us who carry guns daily) should "Take limb Shots" to incapacitate but not kill a suspect like this. The reasoning was in a situation -

"IF there are multiple officers, including one who’s calm (and I will add who is not a shitty marksman)"."IF they are facing a stationary or slowly-moving non-terrorist suspect armed with an edged or impact weapon"."IF there are no bystanders in the immediate area"." I think it’s both reasonable and possible to make a limb shot (especially if an officer on the scene has a carbine). A successful limb shot could still kill the suspect, but it’s an attempt to neutralize the threat and protect the suspect’s life."

Well homie...that is a whole shit-pile of "IF" isn't it. I can tell you that "IF"s create doubt and indecision. Those create hesitation out of fear of making a mistake...and we all know what hesitation does. Hesitation kills.

Whose life is most important at the scene in the video? That of the officers. Second is that of any innocents in the area. The least important life there is Scout-Scott's. And that stage was set by his own actions.

What should a normal intelligent person do when challenged by the police to drop the knife?

It is very simple - drop the knife. If he does not and gets shot...too bad, but too bad for him. And to officers...if your chief demands you put the suspect's life ahead of your own, you should send him your badge - dripping in KY Jelly - with instructional notes on where he should put it. Nobody will cry or burn shit after Scout-Scott slashes your jugular because you hesitated to shoot him the face.

Seriously guys...if you don't have the coin to do it right, do yourself a favor and stay with iron sights. I wrote an article about this a year ago - here is the linkCHOOSING THE "RIGHT" RED DOT SIGHT

Recently on a SIG Legion Group on Facebook I saw this post - I've been waiting for the development of a P226SAO RX Legion. Then this happened to my P320RX - while it was in my gun bag, apparently from the bag being set on the garage floor.I carry my 226 every day. It sits on my right hip, and knocks into the center console of my car every moment I'm behind the wheel. Now I'm frustrated because the one improvement I have craved for my Legion seems not ready for daily carry.Well...to quote our Grandmothers...I told you this would happen!!
]]>GABE SUAREZ BLOG ARTICLESGabriel Suarezhttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136894-DON-T-BUY-A-CHEAP-RED-DOT-SIGHTMORE VIDEO FROM SHOTGUN GUNFIGHTING 2017 - PRESCOTThttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136799-MORE-VIDEO-FROM-SHOTGUN-GUNFIGHTING-2017-PRESCOTT&goto=newpost
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 22:49:56 GMT
]]>GABE SUAREZ BLOG ARTICLESGabriel Suarezhttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136799-MORE-VIDEO-FROM-SHOTGUN-GUNFIGHTING-2017-PRESCOTTSUAREZ SHOTGUN CLASS - SEPTEMBER 9-10http://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136767-SUAREZ-SHOTGUN-CLASS-SEPTEMBER-9-10&goto=newpost
Mon, 11 Sep 2017 17:57:51 GMThttps://youtu.be/kUlEtcm6hQ4
]]>GABE SUAREZ BLOG ARTICLESGabriel Suarezhttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136767-SUAREZ-SHOTGUN-CLASS-SEPTEMBER-9-10IT WOULD HAVE BEEN UNFORTUNATE BUT JUSTIFIEDhttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136663-IT-WOULD-HAVE-BEEN-UNFORTUNATE-BUT-JUSTIFIED&goto=newpost
Thu, 07 Sep 2017 16:03:40 GMTIT WOULD HAVE BEEN UNFORTUNATE BUT JUSTIFIED

I worked Gangs, Special Enforcement and a few other details that had my team and I "undercover" or at least wearing plain clothes. The job required that, as having a uniform on would have defeated the entire point of the exercise. But we knew that the moment we needed to engage the bad guys, we would either need to don some sort of attire that signified we were police. That either was a raid jacket with the words "POLICE" emblazoned on it in bright yellow, or a Point Blank SWAT vest with a badge and the word "POLICE" readily visible. The reason is that we did not want to be mistaken for other bad guys. As it was I got plenty of police guns pointed at me through the years I worked those details. But we knew that a criminal would more likely surrender to the police than to another thug that wanted to rob him.

And, if the situation allowed it, we always tried to have a marked police unit with a couple of uniformed officers on hand should the situation allow for them to lead the arrest for us. The last thing we wanted was to be mistaken as bad guys. That was common sense when working such jobs. And it was also common sense when off duty. The prime tactic when seeing something happen off duty was to call 911 and advise that you were witnessing something that needed to be addressed. The only exception was if you were being assaulted or if you witnessed a violent crime in progress. Again, the concern was to be mistaken as a bad guy...not only by the parties involved, but also by any officers responding to the event.
In my classes this is one of the things we discuss (it is more than just shooting).

And now I see this video -

Having lived the life I have lived I will make a statement about what I think happened. The motorcyclist was likely speeding excessively. And likely split traffic cutting off the Detective. The Detective became emotionally upset and decided to pull the badge card and handle the situation himself. Bad decision? Damn right. We all get angry but it is the mark of a gentleman to have self control. This man acted stupidly. My goodness...at the very freaking least have the badge in the other hand showing it so people don't rightly assume you are an armed robber.

How should this have been handled? Well, its simple isn't it. I did this very thing a few weeks ago. There was a driver that for some reason was swerving in the lanes, passing traffic on the right in the bicycle lane, and doing it at speed. I caught up to him, got his plate, backed away and called the local police. No big deal.

The detective in the video will have a difficult time after this I suspect but what I want to discuss is more from a CCW perspective.

So step into the video for a moment.

You are minding your own business when suddenly off to your left is a creepy guy with a pistol and he is yelling something at you. You see no uniform, no badge, and you are out in traffic. Clearly your situational awareness was not good, but there you are. What does it look like at face value??

My impression is that this is an armed robbery, and I would likely handle it accordingly. Too bad for the detective.

I don't ride bikes, and I expect we may hear from some that do. On foot, my inclination would be to move sharply to his left side as you draw, keeping his body between you and his muzzle, then fire as many rounds as you can into him at close range, tracking up his back as you continue to move continually around him. It would be an unfortunate event precipitated by a mis-identification of an emotionally disturbed good guy...but based on what was on the video, you would be totally justified.

It has been said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
]]>GABE SUAREZ BLOG ARTICLESGabriel Suarezhttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136663-IT-WOULD-HAVE-BEEN-UNFORTUNATE-BUT-JUSTIFIEDGUNFIGHT VERSUS GUNSPORT: SHOTGUNShttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136647-GUNFIGHT-VERSUS-GUNSPORT-SHOTGUNS&goto=newpost
Tue, 05 Sep 2017 17:33:44 GMT*GUNFIGHT VERSUS GUNSPORT: SHOTGUNS (http://blog.suarezinternational.com/2017/09/gunfight-versus-gunsport-shotguns.html)*
*Friday, September 08, 2017 (http://blog.suarezinternational.com/2017/09/gunfight-versus-gunsport-shotguns.html)*
There is a difference and the two applications are not the same at all. Some perspective is in order. If your goal is gunsport, then enjoy yourself, but understand that it is not gunfighting. Some sportsmen may feel upset at me saying that, but they should not. Just as Olympic fencing is not knife fighting, and NASCAR is not PSD driving, one has to honest with himself. The problem is that when one tries to interject the weapons intended for sport, or the methods intended for sport into a real world application, those likely to fail with the expected results.
So an essay in images -
Image: http://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/c8dbaa67-c4d1-47a9-b39b-134355ba4e10.jpg/r0_0_729_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
These guys are on their way to kill bad guys.
Image: http://98441.cdx.c.ooyala.com/F3aHVjczrcOzmnwWFsGJNoAGF_UXH36Z/promo251670416
This guy is on his way to find a duck.
Attachment 53435 (http://www.warriortalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53435)
This soldier is shooting a terrorist.
Attachment 53434 (http://www.warriortalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53434)
This guy is shooting a clay disc
Image: https://i.imgur.com/L73Tp9M.jpg
This man is protecting his store from looters.
They are different pursuits with different tools. There may be some slight parallels, but just as these gunfighters would not prevail in a gun game with rules and special guns organized to give a sporting advantage, the sports guns and gunners would not prevail in a gunfight either. Choose your pursuit, then choose your tools...then train accordingly.GUNFIGHT VERSUS GUNSPORT: SHOTGUNS

There is a difference and the two applications are not the same at all. Some perspective is in order. If your goal is gunsport, then enjoy yourself, but understand that it is not gunfighting. Some sportsmen may feel upset at me saying that, but they should not. Just as Olympic fencing is not knife fighting, and NASCAR is not PSD driving, one has to honest with himself. The problem is that when one tries to interject the weapons intended for sport, or the methods intended for sport into a real world application, those likely to fail with the expected results.
So an essay in images -

They are different pursuits with different tools. There may be some slight parallels, but just as these gunfighters would not prevail in a gun game with rules and special guns organized to give a sporting advantage, the sports guns and gunners would not prevail in a gunfight either. Choose your pursuit, then choose your tools...then train accordingly.

Here is a crazy video. It illustrates what men are capable of doing, and that sometimes one should reconsider their course of action. This happened in Costa Rica. A woman arrived complaining that the bread she bought was old and dried out. She later returned with her husband, who had likely been worked up by the wife. He was clearly quite angry. The man began yelling insults at the baker. At one point the baker’s son steps up to defend his father. At a certain point you will see in the video, the man leaves the argument to go to his car. He immediately returns with a shotgun. The shotgun is one we saw a great deal in Central America, a pistol gripped shotgun of some sort. Likely a Mossberg or Winchester. I didn't quite catch the audio, but the son appears to taunt the armed man to shoot him. Well...sometimes you get your request granted.

Learning points -

1). Sometimes it is impossible to calm down a situation. It is importnat to have the escalation switch at hand and be ready to go to violence before the other side. Sometimes it is important to act first rather than react. Preemption is better than reaction.

2). The moment the man returned from the vehicle with the shotgun, before he was able to load a round or point it at anyone, he should have been shot dead. He was showing a desire and inclination to escalate. Better if we arrive there first.

3). Costa Rica has a defacto second amendment and ownership of firearms is common albeit somewhat expensive. If you are armed in that instance, draw and kill the driver the instant you see the weapon being deployed. That is my recommendation. Not being armed, and facing an angry man with a shotgun, over bread? Give him a refund and call it good. The old saying that you cannot argue with a shotgun is true.

By the way...video is not safe for children, snowflakes, or lotiony handed liberal men.

]]>GABE SUAREZ BLOG ARTICLESGabriel Suarezhttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136639-YOU-CANNOT-ARGUE-WITH-A-SHOTGUNWHY I RETURNED TO THE SHOTGUNhttp://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?136611-WHY-I-RETURNED-TO-THE-SHOTGUN&goto=newpost
Sun, 03 Sep 2017 00:10:59 GMTWHY I RETURNED TO THE SHOTGUN

Some of you will know the feeling. You have been gone from your old hometown, your parent's house, or an old car you used to drive. You return, ten, maybe twenty years later and there is a definite familiarity to it. The shotgun, specifically the Remington 870, is that way for me. It is the main long gun I carried into battle working night watch, and later the Gang Unit. I got into many shootings with issued 870s, and when I heft one it has that familiarity I mentioned.

We have said that situation will determine you tactics and those will select the weapon for you best suited for the task. That selection must be an emotionless and analytical one based on reason and not feelings. For many years, the weapon that I kept by the bed was a rifle. I lived in a crowded house filled with old people and children, and often other staff members staying with during training courses. The concerns over surgical accuracy and the avoidance of over-penetration were forefront of the mind.

But today it is 2017. Not only has my life changed at home, but so has America.

At home it is only my wife (code name: Dragon Lady) and I. The Junior Staff are off pursuing their education and the old people have moved on to their new assignments. I don't have the same concerns about surgical accuracy, and over-penetration can be mitigated with new munitions technology of the day. At home the gunfight is quite simple. Anyone not my wife or me, is an adversary. That is the extent of the target identification I need. My staff and my family are well trained and nobody is going to come home drunk in the middle of the night. If someone gets in, they have broken in, and will be dealt with harshly. This really is that simple.

Tactics At Home: This can be summed up in one sentence. Locate, identify, eliminate unauthorized home invaders. Period. Not much else needs to be said, I live in Arizona. In such events, if there is time, I will grab the 870 first, even though I usually have one of our Suarez Glocks close at hand.

Tactics Away From Home: Unless there are compelling reasons to stay, my plan is to leave trouble behind.

Compelling reason number one may be that a family member is not accounted for - I certainly don't plan to run away, leaving them to face the thug mob. And that extends to innocents beyond the family. If I see an innocent being attacked and it is clear to any man with a brain in his head what is happening, I will have to intervene rather than flee.

Compelling reason number two may be that I am at my office. I am not going to run away from a thug or thug mob that decides to visit me at work. They have made a very poor choice and they will pay for it forthwith.

Compelling reason number three may also include that escape is not tactically wise or possible at moment due to various other complicated reasons unforeseen at the time of this article. Never say never. Anywhere, if the threat is presented suddenly you will not have time to go get anything...even that sexy Daniel Defense M4 in the Pelican Case in your trunk. You will have to handle it with the pistol on your person. But there may be events where the threat is not sudden - like a sucker punch. Events where you have some time to realize what is happening, some early warning - a matter of situational awareness that usually leads to avoiding the matter in the first place. But when such an event cannot be avoided, or you elect to not avoid it for the reasons stated (and you have the time to up-arm from the handgun), I will again, select the 870 first.

Here are three reasons why -

1). I want the most terminal effects for every single round fired. Yes, if I have to shoot a man that is trying to kill me I want him to die. And I want that to happen soonest, so they don't get a chance to shoot me. 12 ga has a far greater terminal effect on human adversaries than any 5.56 or 9mm. I have seen guys shot with rifles and with shotguns. Regardless of whether they eventually survive or succumb, those shot with buckshot at gunfight distances tend to lay down and stop fighting. Guys that disagree are usually defending the fact that they missed. The shotgun is a powerful weapon and truly calls for those with a degree of upper body strength to use it. That frail people, children, or diminutive police officers cannot wield it properly is not my problem.

2). I want a moderately spreading pattern, not a tight one and not a single projectile, so that I can hit under extremely dynamic circumstances where I would not otherwise be able to employ traditional marksmanship principles. If I hit an attacker with half a pattern, as he runs to cover, in a dark environment, and I destroy his arm in the process, I call that a win. That same shot taken with a rifle may very well have been a miss.

And yes, I am accepting that the rest of the pattern will not hit that bad guy. Those that disagree with shooting without a full and perfect front sight focus have spent too much time on the range and not enough "down" range. Real bad guys (as opposed to targets on the qualification course) don't just stand there. They will do everything they can to hit you while avoiding being hit. The shotgun pattern gives you a workable shortcut to an otherwise missed shot, a shot fired too late, or a shot not fired out of fear of missing.

3). I want to be able to shoot buckshot into a crowd of attacking rioters seeking overturn my vehicle and thereby create multiple hits. There is a reason why those who hunt birds use shot rather than slugs. I also want to be able to fire a round into the concrete or asphalt and be able to skip those pellets into the attacking mob. But I want to avoid collateral damage if possible. I'd rather not have that 5.56 round that misses travel a mile off into the distance somewhere. (And you will miss kids...no matter what score you got in class). The 12 gauge allows that, the 5.56 does not.

I know the shotgun has been relegated to the back of the line in popular gun culture and that rifles are so much sexier and popular. I don't expect to ever fill shotgun classes either. Few people are interested in the Battle Axe these days. But my job is to comment on what I think, what I am training, and of course, why. My job is not to sell rifles for Colt or Daniel Defense.

So, if you come to my office, or home, or take a look at the weapon tucked between the center console and driver's seat of my truck, and see an 870 there rather than a 5.56 rifle, now you know why.

In my The Truth About The Gen 5 Glock article I wrote about the new Gen 5 barrel. I told a story about a gunfight I got to participate in involving a couple of armed robbers and a team of guys armed with polygonal barreled pistols. The bad guys ended up as large slabs of ballistic gelatin on legs, but the CSI guys were not able to determine whose rounds hit which bad guy due to the inability of the polygonal bores to mark the bullets sufficiently for a match.

I got this from a correspondent who is in the CSI biz:

"I just read your blog post about the new Gen 5 Glocks. Some info on the CSI front.

You are correct that previously, nearly any bullet fired from a Glock would not be identified to a specific pistol. However some time ago Glock started marketing barrels that were designed so the bullets could be matched back to a specific weapon.

The guns that had these barrels were not very common. Glock continued to work on developing barrels that would allow matching of the bullet to the pistol. The technology in the Gen 5 barrels is very similar to what is used on the G42 and G43. Glock referred to these barrels as "Glock Marking Barrels".

I have personally made several IDs (and the forensic firearms field has also made many IDs) to Glocks with this type of barrel. For what its worth I have not seen any Gen 1, 2, 3, or 4 Glocks mark bullets well enough for ID (again this is due to the type of polygonal rifling they used), but the G42 and G43 you can, and I strongly suspect it will be the case with Gen 5 guns, and all Glocks from this point on. Thanks for all you do."

Interesting information and good to know.

Incidentally, those wanting new non-Glock barrels to retro-fit to their Glock 19, 17, 34, and 43 - for any reason, you can find them here -

We received two of them yesterday, not from Glock but from our usual distributor. And for over a month now we have been deluged with ostensibly objective articles all over the gun media singing the virtues of the Gen 5 Glocks...almost to a messianic level. I suspect that Glock didn't send these early samples out to people who were not in the pocket of the company, promised to give a favorable review, or at least "of the faithful". But now we have them. In short...it is a Gen 4 Glock without finger grooves. That's it. Yes, it has some new additions such as

1). Ambidextrous slide releases: I can't comment of the game shooters or the Youtube gun jugglers but most modern combat-centric training today involves operating the slide manually over the top during a reload. The slide release is actually a superfluous item that often gets in the way of the most solid grip. Now it will get in the way for both right handers and left handers. If I ever run one of these, I may well simply remove that part completely.
2). New barrel: The Glock 19 and Glock 17 have always had different barrel lock up designs and one wonders what the Austrians were thinking. The new barrel for the Glock 19 is the same as the old barrel for the Glock 19. And the barrels from older generations interchange. The new barrel for the Glock 17 is basically a long Glock 19 barrel. The Gen 5 17 uses the same dimensions for the lock up as the Glock 19. This is something that should have been done long ago, but you know how much changes in design cost. Barrel makers will simply extend the length of their existing Glock 19 barrels and have a new Gen 5 17 barrel.

3). New Rifling: I was in a big gunfight some years ago where all of us were using either HK USP or Glock 9mm. It was impossible for the CSI of the day to determine which man had fired which round as all had been fired from Polygonal barrels. Having been out of the business now for many years, I am not sure if the CSI issue is still in existence. I do know that some police agencies have had concerns over this for a very long time (the need to blame is ever present in paramilitary organizations). So the main motivator is to be able to say who fired what at whom. Whether the new barrels are more or less accurate I cannot say at this point with any degree of authority.

4). Trigger: The trigger feels exactly the same as every other Glock trigger. Those that tell you that it is now vastly improved...well sorry...not that anyone would ever inflate a review of a free product...but we didn't see that. The trigger is simplified in its design. It is now the same design as found on the Glock 43. It uses a different trigger bar, and a different trigger spring system. The connector is the same and the connectors on our samples were of the "." variety, or the "dot connector".

5). Frame: Yes, they got rid of the finger grooves. Some guys are dancing, others are not. Finger grooves are one of those things that some like and some don't. Easily enough to remove. Not so easy to add. The frame feels like a Gen 4 frame otherwise. The magazine well has been flared and it is nicely done. Gen 5 users won't need to buy a magazine well so I doubt the aftermarket will offer one. Some of our larger handed staff did note that the cut-out intended to extract the on-board magazine in case it is stuck was objectionable to the hand. This feature existed in the Gen 2 Frames and now it has been brought back.

6). The Magazine: Glock basically tried to copy Magpul's magazine...which Magpul copied from them...oh the irony. Its a typical magazine body with an orange follower (gotcha Magpul!) and an extended magazine lip. Older Generation magazines will work fine in the Gen 5 as will the Magpul magazines. With Magpul's entry into the "Magazines for Glocks" market, I doubt there will be a great deal of demand for the "New Gen 5 Mags - at $30"...but I could be wrong. The new magazines work fine in the older weapons.

7). Internals: The firing pin is different...rounded rather than chisel pointed. In my opinion, a fix to the breakage of metal injection molded firing pins that few in the industry reported on. The new firing pin...is still metal injection molded...just thicker. The firing pin safety plunger is different...again just like the Glock 43. In fact, if we were to take a Glock 43 and feed it a steady diet of Dianobol and Deadlifts, it would likely grow up into a full-sized Gen 5 Glock.

8). Some other points: My understanding is that there will not be any 40, 10mm, 45, 45 GAP, 357 SIG, or any other caliber floating around the glockosphere, in Gen 5. It has a new finish, although when compared to a new Gen 4 pistol, it doesn't look so different. I know about finishes and there is nothing new and unseen. It is either a cleaner version of Melonite, or it is a DLC Coating. The finish on the slide is new and the process is named nDLC. I will bet you that they Melonite it for surface hardness, and then DLC it for market appeal (shiny sells). Other than the thumb safety - which in my opinion would have been a great addition to the Gen 5 - the new pistol is very similar to the lost military contract pistol.

That is the long and short of it. My impressions -

If you have a Gen 4, I would not rush out to put it on Gunbroker so you can buy a Gen 5. It really is not that different and what it offers is hardly ground breaking. I still carry Gen 3 pistols by choice.

Does it suck? No, absolutely not. And for a new Glock buyer it is probably a great choice. But for those heavily equipped with Gen 3 and Gen 4 pistols...keep what you have. And yes, we will be making slides, triggers, barrels, and everything else for the Gen 5 once their market proliferation is sufficient to warrant it.